It is well known that newspapers consist of an outer jacket and one or more sections which must be inserted therein. In order to accomplish this, it is necessary to open the jacket so that the additional portions may be readily received. Devices for carrying out this insertion have been known for some time. Basically, they comprise a plurality of pockets which are capable of opening and closing. In their open position, the jacket of the newspaper is inserted, the walls of the pocket are closed, vacuum is applied, and the walls are then opened. The vacuum retains a portion of the paper against each of the two walls. In this position, the additional sections are inserted.
For the most part, devices of this kind are satisfactory for full sized newspapers or broad-sheets. Such papers, when folded in the usual manner, have only two open edges. Both the fold and the spine are closed. Tabloids, on the other hand, have three open edges, as they are folded only at the spine.
Such newspapers present additional and special problems with regard to opening the jackets to permit insertion of additional materials. The vacuum applied to assist opening does not penetrate more than a few pages; thus, there is a substantial tendency for the inner pages in particular to curl downward toward the spine. This interferes with or prevents proper insertion of additional sections.
Even if opening is successfully achieved with a minimum of curled pages, it is common to find that the opening is created at either the first or last two pages of the jacket. As a result, the insertions are likely to tear the pages, rendering the copy unusable.
The problem also exists (although to a lesser degree) in the case of broad-sheets. It is not practical to maintain the spines of such newspapers oriented in the same way in all copies. The spines are somewhat thicker than the open edges and, if no reorientation takes place, stacks of these newspapers will become higher on the spine side than on the open side. Therefore, when they are placed in the pockets for insertion, some have the spine on one side and others have the spine located on the other side. This tends to even the stacks so that they remain horizontal. In some cases, the broad-sheets are alternated, in others a series are inserted in one direction, followed by an equal series oriented in the other direction.
In such cases, similar problems can arise when the division of the newspaper is to be accomplished from the open edges. The problem is, of course, not as serious as it is with tabloids, but it does exist. The present invention is intended to be used with both types of newspapers.